Childhood Food Allergies: Real or Imagined
A provocative title, I know, but it seems to reflect the debate that is swirling around the increase in life-threatening food allergies in children.
I recently spent months examining how the recent rise in childhood food allergies--and all of related scientific uncertainties -- is impacting schools, communities, and families, and what I found was that food allergies have become the new battleground in parenting, dividing schools, communities, and even families. (The article is in this month's Child magazine.)
What got me interested in the story was an incident that occurred at my younger daughter's preschool shortly after it became nut free last year. The director sent home a letter, advising parents that another parent had smuggled in a disguised peanut butter sandwich with his child. (The child announced at lunch that Dad said not to tell anyone he had the peanut butter sandwich.) From that point on, the director said, teachers would be checking lunch boxes for forbidden foods.
Once I started to investigate, I learned, sadly, this incident was not uncommon. Food allergies are dividing communities, schools, and even families, as there is much misunderstanding (and even ignorance) about this relatively new diagnosis.
By the way, that misunderstanding cuts in all directions. I've found that some parents of kids with food allergies and schools are circumscribing their kids' lives more than necessary or even healthful. Children with food allergies and their parents are at high risk for depression and anxiety, sometimes at levels higher than those suffered with cancer or chronic diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis.
Stumble It!
posted by pam at 10:16 AM
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